Yi bua: a comforting oriental dessert

Yi bua is the coconut and brown sugar filled rice cakes that are a bit chewy and are eaten in the oriental region. These rice cakes are quite famous and are traditionally prepared by the people in Singapore and the Hainanese region.

Savor the flavor of this decadent, sweet and chewy dessert in the traditional way along with a tall glass of coffee. It may seem that preparing these steamed rice cakes is a bit of a task, but, it is actually not. Just with a little bit of precision and a lot of patience you can very well be enjoying something that one will not commonly find in the areas other than the oriental province.

Instructions

In a bowl add the rice flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, and knead everything well with lukewarm water in to a soft but firm dough. Cover and keep the dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, dry roast the peanuts in a pan until they are golden brown in color. Cool and finely crush the peanuts to powder. Now, dry roast the sesame seeds in a pan until they are slightly toasted. Add the brown sugar, remaining white sugar, 2 tablespoons water, powder peanuts, and cook everything until it just starts to boil. Add the coconut, ginger to the pan, and cook everything until the mixture is thick and sort of dry. Cool the filling mixture to room temperature. Take a tennis ball sized part of the dough and then roll it in to a ball.

Flatten the dough using fingers to ¼ inch thickness and add a teaspoon of the filling in the center Close the open ends of the dough to shape it in to a ball again so that the filling stays intact. Now, flatten the dough cake carefully to about ¾ inch thickness and then place it on to an aluminum foil. Continue the process with the remaining dough and filling mixture. Now, steam the rice cakes in a steamer until they are tender and cooked through. Cool the rice cakes to room temperature, serve and enjoy!

Tips

Make sure that the dough is smooth and not sticky. You can add a bit more water than advised in the recipe to achieve the same. Be very careful while you handle the dough to fill the filling mixture in it.

Nutritional information (per serving): 111 Calories, 3.1g Total fat (1.7g Saturated fat, 0.5g Polyunsaturated fat, 0.7g Monounsaturated fat), 0mg Cholesterol, 75.7mg Sodium, 58.3mg Potassium, 21.3g Total carbohydrates (1g Dietary fiber, 6.9g Sugars), 1.5g Protein